HALF A SORCERESS
Chapter 7: Mystery! The Dangers of Reckless Spellcasting!
Written by: Jussi Nikander
Ranma 1/2 is copyright by Rumiko Takahashi and
Shogakukan inc.
Slayers is copyright by Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi, TV
Tokyo, SOFTX and Egg Films
Not used under authorisation, but since I don't get any
money from this, don't sue me, okay?
Previous chapters can be found at
http://www.users.fl.net.au/~bcadwgan/Anime.htm
Great many thanks for Jed Hagen for prereading and Barry
Cadwgan for C&C and hosting my fics on his webpage.
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Slowly, Lina woke up, gradually peeling through layers of
unconsciousness. She blinked at the bright light coming from...
somewhere and wearily tried to shade her eyes with her arm.
She was feeling extremely tired and had an empty feeling, like
somebody had sucked the life from her.
She was lying on something soft, and there was a sharp, stingy
smell in the air.
"Lina-san?" a concerned voice asked.
Groaning, the sorceress turned her head to see whoever had
spoken. Akane was sitting in a flimsy-looking green chair next
to her. The Tendo girl had her hands placed on her lap, and
was looking concerned.
"Wha... What happened?"
Akane's answer was interrupted before it even began by a very
loud, very angry growling.
"Huh?"
Lina immediately realised what the empty feeling she had was.
She was hungrier than she had been ever since her
resurrection.
Already startled by the sound of Lina's stomach, Akane jumped
a little as Lina suddenly shot up, and started looking around the
nurse's station. Spotting something on a near-by table, the girl
jumped off the bed. In a flash she was at the table, devouring a
pack of sugar cubes.
Akane stared, dumbfounded, as Lina made short work of the
sugar, and swept the room with her gaze again. Seeing nothing
edible, she strode to Akane, grabbed her shoulders, and asked
in a voice that made certain that it was a matter of life and
death, "Akane, where's your lunch?"
Still utterly confused, Akane dug through her pack, and drew
out her bento. "Here, whHEY!"
Before the Tendo girl had a chance to react, Lina had sat down
and inhaled her food.
"Sorry, it was an emergency," Lina replied, letting out a
contented burp. With at least some food in her stomach, she
felt much better, and was able to concentrate on other matters.
<Ranma? You remember what happened?>
<Ranma?> Lina repeated after a moment, as no answer was
forthcoming. Again, she was met only with silence.
Concerned, Lina turned back to Akane, who was quickly getting
angry. "Akane," Lina began in a voice serious enough to push
the Tendo girl back into confusion. "Can you tell me what
happened? How did I get here?"
Akane quickly related the encounter with Kuno, which ended
with her dragging Lina to nurse's office. Lina nodded and stood
up, putting on cheery face. "Well, it seems that I just extended
myself a little too far! Now, lets go and see the scribe so I can
get started here!"
"Scribe?"
"Yeah. The guy who knows where everybody's born."
Silence.
"What are you staring at? Ranma told me everything about it; I
have to go and see this guy who knows everyone's birthplace
and tell him I wanna study here," Lina replied, shaking a finger
at Akane.
"Oh, you mean registering at school?"
"Isn't that what I said?"
As the two girls entered the hallway, Lina tried one final time.
<Ranma?> There was still no answer. Oh well, he would wake
up soon.
* * *
"Class, we have a new student starting today," Togusa-sensei
said, indicating the white-haired gaijin girl standing next to his
desk. "This is Lina Inverse, and she's an exchange student
from... Zefilia?" Togusa glanced at Lina, who smiled and
nodded in return.
"May I ask you where it is?"
"It's a small land near Zokathra and about two week's travel
from Atlas City."
Akane buried her head in her hands. So much for that secret...
Togusa-sensei just stared at the new student in confusion. He'd
never heard of any of those places. "Right... Now, even if you
are a new student, that doesn't change the fact that you and
Akane Tendo were late." Sensei pointed at a pile of buckets in
the corner. "Go stand in the hall."
"Umm...Teach? What does that have to do with buckets?"
"You carry them, one bucket full of water in each hand, and
reflect on your tardy ways."
Lina developed a huge sweatdrop. "Oh," was all she was able
to say.
* * *
Tatewaki Kuno was a man with a mission. Earlier the morning,
a girl had made an impression on him. Indeed, her white hair,
lovely face and youthful energy had struck even the great Blue
Thunder speechless. Thus, he had not have a chance to ask
for her name. Unfortunately that meant he was once again
forced to lower himself to the level of mere peasants.
"Tell me, Nabiki Tendo, who is that new girl?"
Quirking an eyebrow, Nabiki glanced at Kuno. "New girl?"
"Yes. The white-locked whirlwind that tore through the ignorant
masses trying to date the sweet Akane Tendo."
"Oh, her," Nabiki answered in a bored tone, turning around.
Figures Kuno'd be interested in a girl who could knock him out
without touching him, she thought.
There was short pause in the conversation, until Kuno caught
on. "How much?"
Her interest renewed, Nabiki extracted four thousand yen bills
from the roll of money Kuno had produced. "Her name's Lina
Inverse. She lives at our house. She's not seeing anyone right
now, but is rather strongly attached to a boy called Ranma
Saotome. He lives at our house too."
"Strongly attached, you say?""
"Yes."
Inside Kuno's head ideas, thoughts, and delusions underwent a
rapid fusion, forming a conclusion that could be reached only
by a feverish mind.
Despite her mercenary ways, Nabiki Tendo did tell the truth.
She said that his lovely white-locked girl was 'strongly
attached' to this Saotome boy. No doubt it was because of false
love, or something far worse.
No woman (with the possible exception of Nabiki) could resist
the incredible charms of Tatewaki Kuno. Thus it was his duty to
free this new lovely example of womanhood who had entered
his world.
"Oh, my white-haired whirlwind!" Kuno shouted, jumping up
from his desk. How could he keep away from her? Keep away,
knowing that she was in the clutches of some low-born scum?
Oh, how this Ranma Saotome character was going to suffer...
"Kuno. Stand in the hall."
Kuno blinked, staring at the man who had dared to interrupt
him. How did that commoner think of issuing orders to him, the
great Blue Thunder of Furinkan High? How could a mere
peasant order the son of noble warriors?
...
Oh yes, he was the teacher. Kuno was the student. Hanging his
head in disgust, the shining hope of the Samurai caste left the
class, holding two bucketfuls of water.
* * *
Outside classroom 1-F, two girls were stading in the hallway.
They both had buckets in their hands, a sure sign of tardiness,
if there was any. One of them was a dark-haired Japanese girl,
well-known to most of the school staff.
The other girl was a new face in the school. She was a bit
shorter than her companion, had a snow-white hair and was
currently frowning in concentration.
<Ranma?> Still nothing. Lina slumped. If she, who had cast the
spell, was already up and running (even if she still felt rather
exhausted) Ranma should have woken up too. Something was
not right.
"It's all your fault," Akane grumbled just loud enough to be
heard.
Sighing, Lina stopped studying her shoes and looked at the
dark-haired girl. It was the third time Akane had said that. It
was getting a bit repetitive. Settling down her buckets, the
sorceress crossed her arms over her breasts. "Well, ex-cuse
me! I didn't intend to faint like that!"
"You still did it!" Akane shot back.
"Hey! If you really wanna blame somebody, blame that stick-
guy. What was he doing anyway, challenging you first thing in
the morning?"
Clenching her fists, Akane explained the situation.
* * *
"So..." she finally breathed. "I've been fighting with them every
morning since."
Lina shook her head, part in disgust, part in amazement. 'The
modern world' seemed to have some REALLY weird customs.
"Lina Inverse! Akane Tendo!" an impassioned voice shouted
from the end of the hallway.
"Eh!??" Shocked, Lina spun around to see that stick guy
running at her. He had buckets in his hands, which he threw
aside before stopping in between her and Akane. Kneeling on
one knee he took both hers and Akane's hand. Lina blushed.
"Oh, lovely Lina Inverse! Oh, beauteous Akane Tendo! How my
hearth sings with joy upon seeing you two again!"
Lina stared at the guy, her face getting even more crimson. He
was far, far, _far_ worse than the Black Fox...
"Uhh... Yeah... Right..."
"Oh, my beauties..." Kuno breathed, placing his hands on his
chest. For a second, the scene seemed to freeze there, before
Kuno surged up and with a cry of, "I shall date with thee!"
caught Lina and Akane in a crushing hug.
Lina acted purely on instinct. "EEEEEEEEEK!!!! BURST
RONDO!!!!"
The hall was suddenly full of explosions and black smoke, as a
dozen spheres of light struck Kuno, throwing him to a wall. "Oh,
I must have her," Kuno mumbled before passing out.
Coughing, Togusa-sensei peered through a broken window to
the smoky hallway. After a few moments the smoke cleared
enough for him to see several upended buckets lying around,
an unconscious and blackened Tatewaki Kuno imbedded in a
wall, and a confused and blackened Akane Tendo looking
down at something.
Glancing down he saw the Inverse girl sitting in a large puddle
of water, with her back against the wall. She was breathing
hard. Curiously, she seemed to have escaped the effects of
whatever it was that blew up in here.
"That wasn't supposed to be possible," Lina mumbled, not
noticing the teacher. With great difficulty, she pushed herself
up, holding her head with one hand. "That," she said with
emphasis, "should not have happened..."
Togusa pushed his glasses up. "Would you please tell me what
happened here, Tendo-san, Inverse-san?"
Akane developed a huge sweatdrop. Lina was still too
disoriented to take notice.
* * *
Trying to ignore both her again-empty stomach and the
teacher's droning, Lina studied her hands. She had used her
life energy, instead of mana, to empower a spell. The weary
and exhausted feeling she had was without a doubt caused by
the massive expenditure of life-energy. She was literally
drained of most of her life.
Lina sighed as her stomach let out another massive gurgle,
causing the sensei to glance at her sharply. It wasn't like she
had done something completely unheard of. There were
dozens of stories about sorcerers using their own life force to
feed spells. Also, most of those stories ended with the said
sorcerers dying from exhaustion.
And in all the legends life energy was used to feed
_ceremonial_ magic. Enchantments, summonings,
resurrections, and such. No-one, according to all the rumors
she'd heard, had used it to power combat spells.
Now, while she was yet unable to explain how she had done it,
she had a suspicion that the use of life force might have
something to do with Ranma's condition. That was a major bad
thing.If she only could...
Lina's train of thought was interrupted by a well-aimed piece of
chalk that hit her between the eyes. Lina glared at the teacher.
"Pay attention, Inverse-san, unless you want to go back to the
hall."
Grumbling a little to herself, Lina settled down to follow the
lecture. Or at least appear to.
* * *
Miyako glanced at the new exchange student from the corner of
her eye, wondering just who and what this Lina Inverse was.
She had arrived in a really weird manner, knocked out Kuno-
sempai and Akane's other suitors, and then somehow seemed
to have caused an explosion that knocked Kuno down again in
the hallway.
And if that hadn't been enough...
"It's definitely changing colour, Miya-chan," Shizue whispered,
when sensei had turned his back to the class.
Miyako nodded to her best friend. "It'll soon be lunch break.
Wanna find out why then, Shizue-chan?"
Shizue nodded back.
The minute the bell rang, sounding the beginning of lunch
break, the two friends stood up, intending to confront Lina
Inverse on a number of things. Unfortunately for Miyako and
Shizue, so did everybody else.
* * *
Lina started sweating as her desk was surrounded by students
and she was assaulted with questions from every side.
"How did you beat up that mob?"
"Are you a martial artist too?"
"Umm..."
"What's this Zefilia place, anyway?"
"What happened in the hallway? How did you knock out Kuno-sempai?"
"Uhhh..."
"Wanna go out today?"
"What's the deal with your hair?"
"Err..."
"Are you binding your chest or something?"
"WHAAAAAAAAAT!?"
The chatter was cut off and the crowd took a step back as Lina
surged up. Her face was red from anger, and somehow the
effect seemed to spread to her hair, turning it from pale
reddish-white to fiery red.
The crowd took another step back as they witnessed a right
that rivalled Akane's, in both power and accuracy.
The following silence was broken by a girl pushing her way
through the mass of students. Breaking through the mob,
Nabiki leaned at Lina's desk and pointed at the door. "Could
we speak for a minute? Alone?"
After a few seconds of steaming, Lina nodded.
* * *
On a good day Lina Inverse would be the first person to admit
that she was a bit short tempered. On a bad day she would
horribly mangle anyone who dared to even suggest such a
thing. The current day was rated 'moderately bad.'
Narrowing her eyes, Lina whispered, "My lunch..."
Nabiki shifted her weight, smirking. "Well, what do you say?
I think a thousand yen is rather cheap for me hanging to your
luERK!"
Fast as lightning, Lina grabbed Nabiki's neck with one hand
and slammed the older girl on the floor. Immediately she
applied a rather painful wrestling hold, her eyes simmering with
rage.
"Buying information, especially if you're planning to use the
services of the same person again, I understand, but trying to
sell my lunch to me is pure blackmail! Now you have five
seconds to give my food back to me, or I will FRY you!"
Dropping her bookbag Nabiki tried to pry the fingers off her
neck, but Lina's hold was like iron. She didn't have any chance
of freeing herself.
"Well!??" Lina inquired, squeezing a little tighter for emphasis.
Her face turning a bit purple, Nabiki nodded frantically. Lina
released her hold, the older girl eagerly gulped air.
"Lunch. Now." Lina snapped.
Coughing and holding her neck, Nabiki waved a hand at her
bookbag. Rummaging through it, Lina quickly found her lunch
and stomped off.
Nabiki lay there for a few minutes. Never before had she
been so afraid. All the other martial artists she knew, like
Akane or Kuno never attacked non-fighters. Apparently Lina didn't
have that sort of restraint.
Then again, it was probably her own fault, thinking that the
gaijin girl was just like any other martial artist, just because
she knew Anything Goes.
Gathering her bookbag, Nabiki headed back to her class to
have some lunch herself. She would have revenge, too, but
that'd have to wait for the moment.
* * *
"Damn! That thief took MY lunch, too! Curse you, Lina
Inverse!"
Nabiki blushed and quickly sat back down, as she saw
everybody in the class looking at her. Well, she did look very
silly posing like that, one fist thrust to the heavens. I must have
been hanging around Kuno too much, Nabiki decided.
* * *
"Nabiki Tendo."
Feigning boredom, Nabiki looked at Tatewaki Kuno, who was
standing next to her desk. She could smell a faint odour of
smoke from the would-be samurai, whose hair was still a
signed, despite the obvious efforts to conceal the effects of
Lina's spell.
There was a moment of silence before Kuno continued. "I'd like
to speak with you."
"Sure, Kuno-chan. What's up?" Nabiki answered, straightening
up.
"In private."
Shrugging, the Tendo girl stood up and follower her classmate
to the hallway. There, Kuno spun on his heel, to face Nabiki.
"To my greatest charign, I must once again ask for your
services. Earlier today I... became distracted during an
inopportune time."
"And...?" Nabiki prompted.
Kuno clasped his hands behind his back and turned to face the
window wearing what he thought to be a dramatic expression --
Nabiki wasn't impressed. "Were this any other thing, it would
not concern me overly. Indeed, we are overlooking things,
forgetting details and otherwise letting things drift by all the
time."
There was a slight pause. Nabiki was just about to throw a
sarcastic comment, when Kuno continued. "However! As this...
event concerns the lovely Lina Inverse, I'd like to know what
exactly happened. And, as there were none of my peers
present, I once again find myself coming to you, Nabiki Tendo."
"Right," Nabiki muttered, before continuing, loud enough to be
heard, "and what this 'event' was?"
"This morning. After our teacher unjustly sent me out of our
classroom, I went to see my two beauties..."
Two beauties? Nabiki thought. What's he up to?
"It turned out that the gods themselves were smiling at me, as
the two were also in the hallway, no doubt from some slight
mishap their teacher had blown completely out of proportion.
However, I remember racing to meet them, my heart bursting
with joy... and then events become unclear. Surely it was the
great joy I felt, which made me miss the details. However, I can
no longer clearly recall the exact sequence of events."
Kuno turned to face Nabiki, his face still stern, and noble. Or at
least he thought it was stern and noble. "And, as you are the
best informed person in this institute of learning, Nabiki Tendo,
no doubt you know the details." Nabiki opened her mouth to
reply, but Kuno plunged on. "Tell me... did I score?"
* * *
"What was that, Hiroshi?"
"Dunno. Sounded like a falling sandbag or something..."
* * *
"Are you all right, Nabiki Tendo?"
"Ouch, yeah. Now help me up Kuno-chan."
"As you wish.""
"Thanks," Nabiki replied, dusting her school uniform. "Now,
could you please tell me again what you wanted to know?"
Silence.
"Surely you haven't forgotten what I asked..."
"Just humor me, okay?"
"Very well," Kuno said, straightening up. "I merely wished to
know how my loves appreciated my humble display of
affection."
"Oh. I see." Nabiki answered in flat tones.
"That is what the commoner phrase meant, is it not?"
"I guess," the middle Tendo answered, adopting a thoughtful
pose. She appeared to give the matter a serious consideration.
Inside, Nabiki was giggling in glee. For once, Kuno's timing
was perfect. "Three thousand yen," she finally said.
Quickly, several bills exchanged owners.
"Thanks. Well, you rushed to hug Lina Inverse. Unfortunately,
the embrace was interrupted as you were knocked out."
"Knocked out!? Sure you jest!! What sort of dark sorcery would
do such a thing!?? Especially to the noble Blue Thunder when
he was about to greet his loves!?"
"Well..." Nabiki drawled. "Four thousand."
"What for?"
"To know _how_ it happened."
"I despise you," Kuno said, digging out his wallet.
"I'm glad... Thanks. As the matter of fact, it might have been
sorcery of some kind..."
"WHAT!?!?"
"Yeah. Lina Inverse just happens to know some magic, and I
guess she..." Nabiki drifted off, as Kuno's face turned dark
purple, and he started muttering something.
Kuno remembered. He remembered seeing his two loves,
remembered running to greet them, and most of all,
remembered Lina Inverse's frightened scream. And the terrible
explosion following said scream. Somebody must have tried to
kill him. Or, he shuddered to think about it, the attempt might
have been on Lina's life.
For the moment, he had only one suspect. But, as a true
samurai, he would refine from passing judgement until further
evidence was offered. However...
"Lovely Lina Inverse! I shall save you from the clutches of this
evil sorcery!!" Drawing his bokken, Kuno charged down the
hall.
Recovering her composure, Nabiki smirked. Not exactly the
effect she had in mind, but an excellent one anyway. Kuno-
chan was criminally easy to manipulate.
* * *
Akane glanced at Lina as the twosome stepped out of Furinkan
High's gates. The redhead had been in an introspective mood
ever since the hallway encounter with Kuno. Akane wondered if
something was wrong, as Lina hadn't seemed to be the silent
type last night.
"Akane Tendo! Lina Inverse!" an obviously delighted voice
cried out. The two were snapped out of their thoughts, and
turned to look at Tatewaki Kuno. He was running full speed at
them.
Akane spun around the face the voice, as Lina froze up.
Seconds later, Kuno screeched to halt in front of them,
continuing his speech in a far graver voice than before, "Fair
ones! I have been given the most grave of news! A most
reliable source has told me of a most horrible fate the minions
of evil have placed you under!"
"Huh?"
Grabbing Lina by the shoulders, Kuno went on. "Lina Inverse,
you must tell me!"
"Err...?"
"Tell me who is the dark sorcerer who binds your soul!"
A pause. "My soul...?"
"YES! I have been informed that dark magics imprison your
heart! Speak the name of the evil sorcerer who has cast this
vile curse, so I may smite him and we can profess our undying
love for each other!!"
Finally recovering her wits, Lina shook her head violently.
"What the hell are you babbling about, pal!?"
Totally misprinting Lina's angry outburst, Kuno hugged her.
Lina blushed deep crimson.
"Oh, my love! I know it is hard to break the bonds that hold you.
But please, try and fight so you can at least tell me the name of
the diabolical one!" Kuno pulled back, holding Lina once more
by her shoulders. "Is it this Saotome I've been told about?"
"MONO BOLT!!!"
Kuno fell, twitching and smouldering. An exhausted Lina was
caught by Akane.
"Come on, let's go."
Lina nodded.
A few minutes later Kuno recovered enough to form a coherent
thought. Or, at least as coherent as he could manage.
He had once again been felled by what must have been dark
magics. Right after he had uttered the name, Saotome. Thus,
there was only one conclusion; his suspicions had been right,
and this 'Ranma Saotome' was the vile sorcerer Nabiki Tendo
had spoken of. She probably hadn't uttered the name so as not
to alert the warlock.
Shaking off the after-effects of the spell, Kuno surged to his
feet. "I will free her from your clutches, Ranma Saotome!!!!"
Lightning stabbed down from a clear sky, striking Kuno.
* * *
A few minutes later, Lina was strong enough to walk
unassisted.
"Are you sure that is healthy, Lina?" Akane asked.
"What is?"
"This... magic of yours. You've been exhausted every time you
do a spell."
Lina waved her hand. "Naah, its just that I've drained my
magical reservoirs dry. This doesn't normally happen."
"It doesn't?"
"Nope. Though I wonder how I'm casting spells with my life
force. And what it has done to Ranma?"
"Life force? Ranma?" Akane mumbled. What was Lina talking
about?
"Yeah, well, eheheh... Ranma's kinda been out of it since I first
blasted that Kuno guy." an embarrased Lina answered.
"Out?!"
"Well, unconscious, though I don't know why. I guess my magic
could have caused it. Well, not normally but since I don't have
mana left and the power must come from somwhere, it's
possible that he's been affected by the few tricks I've done."
"Unconscious?! Aren't you worried?"
There was a brief pause. "Well, kinda..."
"Can we do anything?" Akane asked.
"Uhh..." Lina paused for a moment. "I'm not really sure, you
know. I haven't had a situation like this before, so I'm not
completely sure as to what to do."
There was a moment of silence.
"I think I know a doctor who might be able to help you..." Akane
finally said.
Lina blinked. "A doctor?"
The other girl nodded, beaming. "Dr Tofu's treated all my
injuries since I was a little girl. He knows a lot about pressure
points and all sorts of mystic stuff!"
"Pressure points?"
"Uhh... I don't know much about it, really." Akane replied,
blushing. "I think he uses some sort of... I don't know... central
points of chi to make it... flow better or something?"
"Right..." Lina frowned. "And what's this chi?"
"Well... I think you could describe it as a sort of life force..."
For a moment Lina was silent. Then, she shook her head. She
wasn't going to drag outsiders to this mess. Not yet anyway.
"Naah. I don't think he'd be able to help me. Now let's go home,
I'm hungry!"
"But, Lina you can't just leave Ranma..."
Turning a corner to the main gate of Tendo dojo, the two saw a
largish van parked right next to the dojo wall. On the side there
was a logo - Hikawa Exorcism Society - and under it a slogan:
Exorcisms everywhere in Tokyo, 24 hours a day!
Lina stopped on her tracks and developed a huge drop of
sweat. They didn't...
Akane stared at the van, confused. What on earth was going
on?
I do NOT want to handle this now. I've had quite enough
stupidity for one day, Lina thought and turned to face the other
girl. "Akane?"
"Yes?"
"We're going to see that doc-friend of yours. Now." Lina said
rather forcefully, and started pushing the other girl away.
"Hey! What!? Stop!"
"Don't worry! I know what I'm doing!"
* * *
Adjusting his glasses, doctor Tofu Ono studied the redhead
sitting on his examination table. If Akane hadn't confirmed it, he
would never have believed her story. He had seen a few odd
things in his life, but this went far beyond anything he had ever
seen before.
"Well, Doc?" Lina asked. "Can you help me or not?"
Tofu shook his head in confusion. "I'm not sure Inverse-san.
Your case is definitely unique."
Akane slumped her shoulders. She had been so sure that
doctor Tofu would have been able to help them.
Lina shrugged. She had expected nil results anyway. How
could anyone been able to help her, the world being as devoid
of magic as it was?
"Okay. Thanks for your time, Doc," Lina quipped, jumping off
the table and heading for the door.
"However...," Tofu said, just as Lina reached the doorway. She,
along with the disappointed Akane, turned around.
"There is a pressure point I might try," Tofu continued. "The
legendary Rage of Fuji-san point."
"Rage of Fuji-san?" Lina and Akane echoed.
"Yes. It is an old pressure point normally used to wake up very
weak people. I'm not sure how it would work on you, Lina-san.
And.." Tofu adjusted his glasses. Somehow, the light coming
from a near-by window reflected off them, giving the young
chiropractor an ominous air for a moment. "It's not
recommended to be used on conscious people."
"Why's that doctor?" Akane asked.
"Well, the name of the point comes from the sound caused by
applying it to conscious people, though many rather call it by
the nickname given during the second world war. The Air Raid
Siren point."
"The what?"
"The Air Raid Siren point. During the war, doctors were very
often just as tired as the front-line troops, and...Uhh..
occasionally made slight mistakes, I'm afraid. The Rage of Fuji-
san was often applied to people who were not unconscious..."
"And...?" Lina prompted, more than a little worried.
"...The pain made them scream rather like air raid sirens."
Lina started sweating profusely and edged towards the door.
"Eheh... Thanks a bunch doc, but... I think I'll be gonenow!"
"Lina, wait!" Akane quickly dashed to the doorway, catching the
redhead girl by her shirt.
"I'm sure Ranma'll wake up soon! There's no need to try such
extreme methods yet!" Lina babbled while trying to free her
shirt.
"Lina, please! Let doctor Tofu help you!"
The tug-o-war went on for a minute, while Tofu watched on,
befuddled. Finally Lina sighed and gave in.
"Well, can't be worse than Big Sister's flu treatments, I
guess..." she mumbled, and sat down on the examination table
again.
Lina took a deep breath. "Let's get this over with, doc."
A few seconds later the whole Nerima stopped for a second.
"KIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"
* * *
"Papa, papa, please! Don't make me go there again!"
It had been horrible the previous times. The slime, the voices,
the forms piling on her, slithering over her. The small creatures
biting her, licking her, and bashing her with their antenna. The
mere smell of the hungry slugs waiting for her would have been
enough to make her wet her pants. Accompanied by the the
sound of many bodies slithering restlessly made her freeze up
in terror.
Her father stood firm however. "It's for your own good,
daughter. If you learn the legendary Slug-fist, you're sure to be
the greatest martial artist of all time. Now stop whining and take
it like a man!"
Lina screamed as she was once again pushed into a pit full of
hungry slugs.
* * *
Ranma had buried himself in the farthest corner of his bed. His
room was shrouded in darkness. It was already past nightfall
and he had blown all the candles in a vain hope that Big Sister
wouldn't find him. Not that it'd help, Big Sister being what she
was. Mrs Renu had told Big Sister how he had managed to
break their shop's window. Probably had twisted the story so it
was all his fault, like the grown-ups always did. It wasn't his
faulte they had to keep their shop next to the best soft-ball field
in the town!
Ranma drew back a little more, as the door to his room was
opened. Big Sister was like a black shadow in the middle of the
light doorway. Her yellow eyes glowing in the darkness and tail
and ears twiching, she looked like some sort of demon.
"I heard you've been a bad boy again, Ranma..." she said.
Ranma drew back a bit more, whimpering in terror.
* * *
- Jussi Nikander